Speed Post News Network
New Delhi : Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister Ram Vilas Paswan has reviewed the progress of ‘One Nation One Ration Card’ plan. While taking note of the requisite technical readiness of 4 more States/UT of Jammu & Kashmir, Manipur, Nagaland, and Uttarakhand, the Department of Food & Public Distribution has enabled the integration of these 4 States/UT with existing 20 States/UTs for the National Portability. With this, now a total of 24 States/UTs are connected under One Nation One Ration Card from August 1, 2020.
These 24 States/UTs are : Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
With this, about 65 crore (80%) of total NFSA population is now potentially enabled for receiving foodgrains anywhere in these States/UTs through national portability of ration cards. Remaining States/UTs are targeted to be integrated in national portability by March 2021, according to a PIB release.
The One Nation One Ration Card is an ambitious plan and endeavour of DoFPD, to ensure the delivery of food security entitlements to all beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA), irrespective of their physical location anywhere in the country, by implementing nationwide portability of ration cards under the ongoing central sector scheme on ‘Integrated Management of Public Distribution System (IM-PDS)’ in association with all States/UTs.
Through this system, the migratory NFSA beneficiaries who frequently change their place of dwelling in search of temporary employments, etc. are now enabled with an option to lift their entitled quota of foodgrains from any Fair Price Shop (FPS) of their choice anywhere in the country by using their same/existing ration card with biometric/Aadhaar based authentication on an electronic Point of Sale (ePoS) device installed at the FPSs.